99 Red Balloons
by Batman Lamp-Writer
Summary: Songfic oneshot. It's the end of the world as we know it, and one man goes back to write the story.


A/N: Okay, fic that won't let up ever since I got a mixed CD from my friend, so… Yeah, here. Something to hold you over until I post chapter eleven of Tainted Snow, which is slightly delayed due to 1, a slight lack of ideas, 2, me not able to find my idea sheet, and 3, me wanting to add a sneak peek to the sequel at the end. So, here's this instead.

Also, the only reason I used Germans in this is 'cause the song has a part that's in German. Irony, yay.

BTW, expect a few more song fics in the near future. Thanks, Beth, for the CD…. ;

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"C'mon, Danny, I wanna get something for Christmas!" Sam said, pulling my arm to drag me into yet another shop.

"Yeah, but a toy shop? Who do we know that still plays with toys?"

"Oh, c'mon, you're no fun!"

"Please, no rhyming! I've had enough of that from last year!"

"Sorry, Danny. It's just, you said that you had fifty dollars earlier, right?"

"Which has dropped to a dollar, thanks to your shopping skills."

"What can I say? When pink and frills aren't included, I _LOVE_ to shop!"

"I've noticed…."

"Anyway, you still have a dollar! We can get one more thing, right?"

"Yeah, but what can we get for a _dollar?_"

"Balloons!"

"…Balloons?"

She held up a bag, full of red balloons. She was smiling brightly, seeming to be proud of her "find". "Yep! See, we can blow them up and throw a party!"

"Last party we had, I wasn't invited. And it was AT MY HOUSE."

"So, we won't invite Dash and Kwan. Who cares? They're jerks anyway."

"True."

"We could blow them all up, then let them go, all at the same time!"

"And that would accomplish…?"

"Nothing, it would be fun!"

"Fun? What is this 'fun' you speak of?"

"Oh, loosen up, Danny! You seriously need a break from hunting!"

"And this will give me that break?"

"Yes. It's Christmas, Dan, have some fun!"

_You and I in a little toy shop_

_Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got_

_Set them free at the break of dawn_

_'Til one by one, they were gone_

So, the next day, we got Tucker and Jazz together with us, and let go of all the balloons we had—_I_ had—blown up. It was… well, sorta fun. Interesting, at least.

Mom and Dad ran up to us later in the day, saying they had found a UFO. "Something's out there, I know it!" Dad shouted. "And it's probably a GHOST!"

"Dad, since when do aliens have ghosts?" Jazz asked.

"Since when do you believe in aliens?" I asked her, completely confused.

She blushed. "When given that in our solar system, one out of nine planets can support life, then there must be life on planets in other solar systems."

"…uh huh…."

"Danny, how can you believe in ghosts, but not aliens?"

"How can _you_ believe in aliens, but not ghosts?"

"…Point."

"Kids, time to head in, alright?" Mom said. "If there _are_ aliens, I don't want any of you outside. Sam, Tucker, you can stay the night if you want."

"Thanks, Mrs. Fenton," they chorused back. We walked in, Dad taking one last look back, as if to find the aliens.

_Back at base, bugs in the software_

_Flash the message, "Something's out there"_

_Floating in the summer sky_

_99 red balloons go by._

"Danny! Code red!" Mom screamed at us. I jumped out of bed and grabbed a bag from beside the door. It was my personal emergency kit. We'd all been ordered to have one ready ever since the beginning of the war.

It had been one year ago that the Germans had attacked. World War Three, they were already calling it. And now, we had a code red, which meant one thing.

Air attack.

We all ran outside, underneath the planes that were flying by. I could now hear the sirens in the distance that signaled the code red. We had to hurry if we were gonna make it to the safe house.

After ten minutes of running, we finally made it. We dove inside, and I looked around frantically for Sam and Tucker.

They weren't there.

_They weren't there!_

I shot back up, about to run outside again when Jazz dragged me down. "It's okay, Danny, there's still some time before we need to worry."

"That doesn't keep me from worrying!" I yelled at her. "They're still out there, Jazz. They're my friends! I don't want to—"

"I know, Danny, but you can't run out there like that! You'll give Mom and Dad a heart attack!"

"Jazz, I can't just _sit_ here!"

"You're gonna have to, Danny."

I flopped down next to her, burying my face. Something landed a ways away from us, shaking our safe house.

"Oh, why did I choose to come home _now?_" Jazz mumbled next to me.

_99 red balloons floating in the summer sky_

_Panic bells, it's red alert_

_There's something here from somewhere else_

Jazz was right. Sam and Tucker, along with their families, ran in a few minutes later, thankfully alright. I threw my arms around them the minute a saw them, thrilled.

"Gee, Danny, were you worried?" Tuck asked, noticing that I wasn't letting go of either of them.

"Uh, duh! You guys, I was freaked."

"Oh, so _now_ you admit that you were overreacting?" Jazz said with an eye roll.

"I was _not_ overreacting!"

"Sounds like you were, Dan."

"…Whatever…."

Something hit next to the door, and several people screamed. The one light we had in the room went out. Sam's hand tightened on my shoulder. I patted it, hoping to calm her. It worked.

Until a computerized voice said right outside, "**BOMB TO BE DROPPED IN T MINUS FIFTY SECONDS. FORTY-NINE. FORTY-EIGHT.**"

Everyone freaked. Sam squeezed my shoulder tightly, and I think Tucker screamed. Jazz grabbed onto me, wrapping her arms around my stomach.

"It's okay," I said quietly to them, looking toward what I hoped was the door, "we'll be fine. We've been through worse, right?"

"**THIRTY-SEVEN. THIRTY-SIX. THIRTY-FIVE.**"

"Like what, Danny?"

"Pariah. Fright Knight. Walker. Vlad. …Dan."

"How are any of them worse than _this?_"

"They could go intangible through people and control them."

"**TWENTY-FOUR. TWENTY-THREE. TWENTY-TWO.**"

"Danny, are we gonna…?"

"I don't know, Sam. But we needa stay calm, okay?"

"I don't think I can, Danny…."

"Jazz, Tuck?"

"Not us, either. You've been through more of these kinds of situations than we have. And you remember more of them."

"Guys, just calm down. We'll be…."

"**FIFTEEN. FOURTEEN. THIRTEEN.**"

"We'll be…?"

"We'll—we'll—"

"**TEN. NINE. EIGHT.**"

"Danny?"

"Shhh. Just stay quiet. It'll be over soon."

"**SIX. FIVE. FOUR.**"

"Danny, I—I wanna say—"

"What?"

"I l—lo—"

"**ONE. ZERO.**"

_**BOOM.**_

_The war machine, it springs to life_

_Opens up one eager eye_

_Focusing it on the sky_

_As 99 red balloons go by._

Somehow, I had managed to go intangible. Unfortunately, the others had let go. I was the only one who survived the attack on Amity Park. I managed to fly away from the destruction. I got to the east coast before collapsing. There, the destruction was much less. I could almost forget—

But I couldn't. I didn't want to. All I wanted was more time. If I had had that, Sam could've finished that sentence. I would've known what she was going to say. Now, I'd never know.

I shook the thought from my head and accidentally drew my roommate's attention to me.

"What's up, Dan?" he asked.

"Eh, nothing, Mark. Just… memories."

"Right, you were in that bomb, right?"

"Yeah. Can we not talk about it, please?"

He nodded. "Sorry. I get it. Totally. That's why you joined the army, right?"

"Yeah."

Something sounded outside. I jumped, and Mark ran to the window.

"What was that?"

"Some people are outside. They're talking."

"About?"

"Can't tell. They're running around everywhere."

"They're upset about something," I said, peering down at them. They were definitely in a hurry.

"BOYS! WE'RE GOING!" Our captain was yelling from the hallway. Mark and I jumped and ran out the door, knowing where we were going to end up.

_99 Decision Street, 99 ministers meet_

_To worry, worry, super-scurry_

_Call out the troops now in a hurry_

We were at the front line, exchanging fire with the German forces. I was getting nervous just holding the freakin' gun. The only people I've ever fired at were ghosts, and those weren't deadly shots, even!

Now, I was aiming at people. Living, armed, breathing people. The people who had killed Sam, Tuck, Mom, Dad, Jazz, everyone.

I knew what I had to do. After all, this was war. So, I loaded my gun and began to shoot.

People went down, everywhere. Both sides suffered serious casualties. Mark was hit, but he kept firing, taking out another five guys before he got shot again.

I was freaking out. I was shooting people. I was _killing_ people. This was totally against my normal philosophy.

Yet, for some reason, I was… _enjoying_ it.

This was really wrong. This was only gonna lead to …_him_. To Dan. And I didn't want to go down that road again.

But the battle didn't stop. We were fighting for days, weeks, even. It never seemed to stop.

The battle took a month and a half. In the end, we had won, barely. Somehow, we'd gotten through. I'd made it, but not many of my new friends had.

I was right back where I'd started.

_This is what we've waited for_

_This is it boys, this is war_

_The president is on the line_

_As 99 red balloons go by._

Then, barely a year after that battle, and many more battles to follow, the Germans made a last-ditch attempt at destroying our country. There was a bomb left in every one of twenty, cross-country planes. They were all to go off at the same time.

Meanwhile, on ground level, fifty gasoline trucks were blown up. Countrywide chaos ensued.

I had managed to again faze through the attacks. I had survived.

No one else had.

_99 Kriegsminister_

_Streichholz und Benzinkanister_

_Hielten sich für schlaue Leute_

_Witterten schon fette Beute_

After that, I disappeared. I isolated myself from the world, knowing how enraged Jazz and Tuck would've been. And how proud Sam would've been. I traveled, keeping away from anyone who would've come by.

During this time, I noticed that I was slowly changing. My ghost mode was changing, actually. My hair had turned to flame. My eyes were gradually becoming red. My teeth were elongating to fangs.

I was becoming Dan. I was becoming the one person I had promised to never be.

I was becoming my worst enemy. While the living in the world were little by little fixing their lives, mine was disintegrating.

And I couldn't stop it.

_Riefen: Krieg und wollten Macht_

_Mann, wer haette das gedacht_

_Dass es einmal soweit kommt_

_Wegen 99 Luftballons_

The next few years passed by without my knowledge. Or my minding. I kept having dreams about when Jazz, Sam, and Tuck were around. When they were alive.

I missed them.

I _really_ _**missed** them._

But they were gone.

Everyone was.

And I was standing on the remains of my home. FentonWorks. I was standing there, remembering old times, trying to find something to prove that _I_ hadn't done this all.

To prove that I hadn't officially become Dan. I could hardly stand the fact that I looked like him, now I might have actually done this.

But that was probably not true. At least, I hope.

I didn't know. I had completely forgotten everything else, only my dreams were reality. All I knew was that everyone was gone.

And I was the only one left.

_99 dreams I have had_

_In every one a red balloon_

_It's all over and I'm standin' pretty_

_In the dust that was a city_

I continued to look around. There had to be _something_ here. Something I had overlooked. Something to prove everyone had lived.

Something to prove I hadn't done it.

And I had found it. There, lying on the ground, was one thing that I remembered very well. Something from _before_ the whole war, from before the disasters.

One thing that could prove their existence.

One thing that I couldn't keep. It reminded me too much of her, of Sam.

It was a red balloon, the only of the pack all those years ago that we hadn't sent off. Somehow, it had survived. And now, I had finally found it. I could only do one thing.

I let go.

_If I could find a souvenir_

_Just to prove the world was here..._

_And here it is, a red balloon_

_I think of you and let it go._

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A/N: Awww, I gonna cry. :'( Well, there ya go! And just to keep some of you from chewing me out for breaking from it, here's a sneaky for Tainted Snow.

_He flew back at Vlad, but as soon as he was in reach, Vlad swung him by the arm, throwing him into a wall. Sam gasped. "**Danny!**"_

_Vlad rolled his eyes. "Oh, be quiet, all of you!" He waved a hand at them, and they slumped over, asleep._

_Danny gaped. "What did you do?"_

"_Nothing compared to what I'll do to you." Vlad came at Danny, who readied himself and fired a shot at him before he got there. Vlad flew back a few feet, taking a long enough time to reorient himself for Danny to fly in to punch him in the face. Vlad fell to the ground._

_Danny hovered above him, shouting down, "You done already, Vladdie?"_

"_Not even close."_

Okay, so that done, tell me how ya liked it!


End file.
